We were sailing along on Moonlight Bay
We could hear the voices ringing
They seemed to say
You have stolen her heart
Now don't go way
As we sang love's old sweet song on Moonlight Bay
15.01.2013
It's a brand new year and I have gained a few of the festive weight.
Friends told me how beautiful is the movie Life of Pi. From the poster, I was expecting the tiger would be magically tamed and live with Pi on the boat. But in fact it was much more realistic.
A shipwreck forced Pi to survive on a life boat with a Bengal tiger. Instead of losing hope and surrendering to the circumstances in front of him, Pi said:" We need to live with one another if we want to survive." Imagine what would I do if I was forced to survive in a life boat with a tiger?! Pi is a believer in God, but he didn't just sat back and wait for miracles, he used his wisdom instead to live with the tiger, and the tiger was the reason that he survived. For those who live with circumstances, any reasonable man would say that the hope of survival is slim. They would be the victim of their pessimism. For those who has faith in God, they never stop having hope, like Pi read from the survival guide:"...above all, never lose hope."
Pi, a vegan, was forced to kill his first fish to feed the hungry tiger. Crying remorsefully, Pi still gave thanks to God:" Thank you, for sending a fish to rescue our lives!" When hunger and desperate strikes us, we threw a lot of our principles out of the room, we became another person.
During a fight with the tiger, suddenly there came across a bunch of flying fish in the middle of the ocean. The fishes literally flew into the tiger's mouth to feed the starving tiger and once again God rescued Pi. For me, there is more than a scientific reason for the flying fish to appear at the perfect timing.
Sometimes we should stop and think, who is the creator of human and animal? Who is the creator of the ocean and earth? Who is the creator of the universe? What the human know is never greater than it's creator. Who knows what's happening ahead of us except God who has plans for us? I must always remind myself to appreciative and be humble.
There are always turbulent times in life. When the the boat was facing a huge thunder storm, Pi was so excited to see the lightning from the sky as if the door of heaven was opened. He shouted:" I have nothing to lose! I have lost my family! The time has come!" And he hold the tiger on his lap:" Thank you God for giving me my life! I am ready." The huge storm totally weaken Pi and the tiger. While facing death, how could Pi just thanked God instead of groaning and complaining about his life? How strong was his faith! Shouldn't I just look at what I have in my life and give thank to God, instead of looking at what I don't have or what I've lost? Like Pi said:" When you thought God is not looking, He is actually looking after us."
Pi was being teased for his name during his whole childhood and one day he found God. Our God is a God of mercy. He only sees what's in Pi, not what's bad about Pi. It also reminds me of what Jesus Christ said:" Only the weak seeks for doctor, not the strong." I was being teased too throughout my whole teenage for my appearance which caused me to grow up in very low self esteem until I found the love of God. Life is far too meaningful than focusing on those criticism. When Pi finally found by his own species after 227 days, he was forced to give a "real story" by two Japanese investigators. I was thinking, aren't human more brutal than animal? All the tiger wanted was only to survive, but in our lives we need to honour men by doing things that were not from our hearts. No, for Jesus Christ said:"Do not honour men." The life on earth is too short, how could I not be honest to myself and others? It's totally fine and normal for my faith to be teased because a faith is never rational, "Stay foolish." that's what Steve Job said.
One thing in the movie that made me cried even harder was when Pi expecting the tiger to turn it's head before it went away for good into jungle. What upset Pi was that they never have the chance to say goodbye, just like he never have the chance to thank his father. This reminds me of losing my kitten. There is a message I learnt from this scene - do not look back and do not ask why. Of course I am also a mere human who follows my own emotions when I hit the bottoms in my life, but after knowing Christ I learnt to recover from grief. I cried badly when Pi lost his whole family, when the zebra was killed by a hyena, when Pi was almost killed, when the tiger never look back... I could feel all the sorrow because I am a very emotional person. But what's the message of this scene, for me its saying: " All these are just a part of life, life can be very cruel and brutal, so do not carry the things on earth. "
At the end of the movie, the tiger actually saw a vision of Pi smiling at him when it stopped before went into the jungle, but Pi didn't read the tiger that's why he kept the sorrow in his heart for not being able to say goodbye after staying together with the tiger for 227 days. Same thing happened when I cried for days for losing my kitten although I had only raised her for one and a half months. Wasn't it's just the human who think too much and see the past seriously? The tiger actually saw Pi's smiling as if Pi was happy for it because for the tiger the jungle was it's real happiness.
At the end of the movie, Pi was blessed with a happy family with two kids. There is one more thing about Pi's guest the Canadian writer, his characteristic looked lost in his life and he was a non-believer in God. I believe that God has a plan for all of us, for everything in our lives, because He is a God of details. The writer was sent to Pi so that Pi could make him believe in God. I think that this was one of the reasons that Pi survived, because his miraculous life is a real testimonies to save some lost souls.
Wikipedia revealed that:"Martel also stated that his inspiration for the book's premise came from reading a book review of Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar's 1981 novella Max and the Cats, about a Jewish-German refugee who crossed the Atlantic Ocean while sharing his boat with a jaguar. Scliar said that he was perplexed that Martel "used the idea without consulting or even informing me," and indicated that he was reviewing the situation before deciding whether to take any action in response. After talking with Martel, Scliar elected not to pursue the matter. A dedication to Scliar "for the spark of life" appears in the author's note of Life of Pi." This real story about the author Martel was indicated in a scene when the Canadian writer asked Pi if he could write this story, and Pi said:" I have told you the story, now the story is yours." Copying or imitating is a common thing in the art industry, for people like me, who likes other's artwork and wish to produce the same thing too, or shall I say, inspires from others, I often do a lot of research to learn and see what inspires me. Some people would complain and got mad about their artworks were being copied. But my boyfriend gave me a very good reason - the industries are copying Apple's products, Polaroid's products, Canon's products...just because of this reason the technologies keep improving to add more sparks in our lives! Hence, learn not to keep the idea for oneself, but to share it with others.
For me, Life of Pi is not merely about beautiful visual effects, it's about life with God, and never lose hope.
